Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Sells 100 Shares of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC decreased its position in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,141 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walt Disney were worth $1,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farmers Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Walt Disney by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 8,483 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co grew its stake in Walt Disney by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 18,869 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $1,809,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC lifted its holdings in Walt Disney by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC now owns 11,657 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $1,121,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Connable Office Inc. lifted its holdings in Walt Disney by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 35,048 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $3,371,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Walt Disney by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,017 shares of the entertainment giant’s stock worth $579,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Walt Disney from $122.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Walt Disney in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Walt Disney from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Walt Disney from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Walt Disney from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.54.

Insider Activity at Walt Disney

In other news, EVP Brent Woodford sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.74, for a total value of $917,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,054,870.70. The trade was a 15.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert A. Iger sold 372,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.57, for a total transaction of $42,667,242.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 226,767 shares in the company, valued at $25,980,695.19. This trade represents a 62.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 385,412 shares of company stock worth $44,153,263. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walt Disney Price Performance

Shares of Walt Disney stock opened at $108.12 on Thursday. The Walt Disney Company has a twelve month low of $83.91 and a twelve month high of $123.74. The firm has a market cap of $195.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The entertainment giant reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Walt Disney had a net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 9.21%. The firm had revenue of $22.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Walt Disney Company will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walt Disney Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Walt Disney’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.45. Walt Disney’s payout ratio is currently 36.90%.

Walt Disney Profile

The Walt Disney Company operates as an entertainment company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Entertainment, Sports, and Experiences. The company produces and distributes film and television video streaming content under the ABC Television Network, Disney, Freeform, FX, Fox, National Geographic, and Star brand television channels, as well as ABC television stations and A+E television networks; and produces original content under the ABC Signature, Disney Branded Television, FX Productions, Lucasfilm, Marvel, National Geographic Studios, Pixar, Searchlight Pictures, Twentieth Century Studios, 20th Television, and Walt Disney Pictures banners.